Robert Ritchie, known to the world under his alias Kid Rock, was removed as the grand marshal of the 65th Nashville Christmas Parade for his derogatory remarks about TV host Joy Behar. The event organizers, which include Piedmont Natural Gas, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and Tennessee Holiday Productions, stated that "the grand marshal should personify the spirit of the Nashville community” and invited James Shaw Jr., who became a local hero after fighting a gunman during a shooting at a Waffle House near the city.
Some applauded the move.
James Shaw Jr., the hero from the Waffle House shooting replaced Kid Rock and led the Nashville Christmas parade as Grand Marshall!
— theGrio.com (@theGrio) 3 декабря 2018 г.
You deserved that James, they got the right man for the job.https://t.co/3t1tB0FSNS pic.twitter.com/UO0P5iJ1TT
However, others found this hypocritical and praised Kid Rock.
Why can Joy Behar call Meghan Kelly a bi*ch and keep her job but Kid Rock calls Behar a bi*ch and was fired as grand marshal of the Nashville parade.
— Lori Hendry (@Lrihendry) 2 декабря 2018 г.
This whole Kid Rock thing makes me like him even more.
— Jeff DuPont (@JToddDuPont) 2 декабря 2018 г.
God bless America and God bless Kid Rock for standing up for what he believes in!
— Alisa Carson (@averysgrammie) 2 декабря 2018 г.
The musician came under fire for calling Behar a “B***h” in the on-air interview with Fox and Friends on November 30 as he ranted about division in the US because of oversensitiveness after he was asked about US President Donald Trump. But his peace preaching went afoul.
“God forbid you say something a little wrong; you’re racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, this that and the other. People need to calm down, get a little less politically correct. And I would say, you know, love everybody. Except, I’d say screw that Joy Behar b***h — everybody but that,” he said.
The Fox hosts rushed to apologize, while Kid Rock tried to play the incident down, saying "I mean, lady." The comment drew public criticism. Following the backlash, Kid Rock apologized for the word choice, but “not the sentiment.”
READ MORE: Australian Students Face Uproar Over Donning KKK Robes, 'Racist' Blackface
Behar, known as an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, has earlier slammed the musician last year when she described Rock and Sarah Palin’s visit to the White House as "the saddest day in the history of the White House since the British burned it to the ground in 1814."
However, she responded to Kid Rock’s recent verbal attack with a peacekeeper remark as she said on The View, she has co-hosted for 20 years, ”This bitch and these bitches will be happy to have you on the show and have a beer.”